Do you think it's ever right to misrepresent a film in marketing to get people in?

I remember an article a while back which was very sniffy about some people who had walked out of "The Artist"on finding out it was a silent film. Whether they were right to do that isn't the point it's just that I remember having to ask at the time whether it was actually a silent film as the way it was marketed made it seem more like a film about silent films.

Also it seems that very few subtitled films let people know this in their trailers and it seems to me that this is deliberate.

Also this kind of marketing can have a seriously detrimental impact on a films word of mouth as people leave dissatisfied that the film they got wasn't whta they were expecting.

I think the best example of this was Transformers 2 which marketed itself as a fun action flick but was actually a horrible piece of shit.

It's a real bugbear of mine. One of the worst examples of this year was Magic Mike, which was sold as some kind of Full Monty sex comedy when it was nothing of the sort. I've never heard so much booing from an audience when a film ended. The film, which I think is one of the years best, deserved more respect. Silver Linings Playbook is another recent example too. It's being pushed as a straight down the middle rom-com when it really isn't.

I'd add the woman who apparently didn't realise Ernest and Celestine was subtitled the other weekend but as it was advertised as such and playing as part of the FRENCH film festival I think that's just a case of someone being an idiot.

It's a real bugbear of mine. One of the worst examples of this year was Magic Mike, which was sold as some kind of Full Monty sex comedy when it was nothing of the sort. I've never heard so much booing from an audience when a film ended. The film, which I think is one of the years best, deserved more respect. Silver Linings Playbook is another recent example too. It's being pushed as a straight down the middle rom-com when it really isn't.

They've even removed the '...Playbook' bit from the voiceover on the telly adverts too, presumably because 'Silver Linings' sounds more safe and generic.

Bridge to Terabithia - pushed as a Narnia-esque fantasy adventure. Actually a poignant, devastating, coming-of-age drama that deserves to be better-loved and better-known than it is.

The poster didn't help its case, seriously misrepresenting this as an Oz-like spectacular to the detriment of the movie. I watched it with my daughter, both of us expecting some mystical world of giants and fairies. Once she got over the initial disappointment that this wasn't going to happen, she was intrigued by the movie (although it did take quite a long daddy/daughter discussion about the themes afterwards!).

It's a real shame that it was marketed so badly. I'm completely in agreement with Homer here - this was one of those rarities, an intelligent, brilliant kids movie that didn't treat them as idiots or shy away from real issues. Had it got the audience it deserved, I'd go as far as to say that this could have been this generations Princess Bride

_____________________________

WWLD?

Every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless

I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.

Bridge to Terabithia - pushed as a Narnia-esque fantasy adventure. Actually a poignant, devastating, coming-of-age drama that deserves to be better-loved and better-known than it is.

The poster didn't help its case, seriously misrepresenting this as an Oz-like spectacular to the detriment of the movie. I watched it with my daughter, both of us expecting some mystical world of giants and fairies. Once she got over the initial disappointment that this wasn't going to happen, she was intrigued by the movie (although it did take quite a long daddy/daughter discussion about the themes afterwards!).

It's a real shame that it was marketed so badly. I'm completely in agreement with Homer here - this was one of those rarities, an intelligent, brilliant kids movie that didn't treat them as idiots or shy away from real issues. Had it got the audience it deserved, I'd go as far as to say that this could have been this generations Princess Bride

A better comparison is this generation's My Girl...

But yes, I really think the film deserves to be an out-right classic for the ages.

Sharky, how old was your daughter when she watched it?

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That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.

Bristol Bad Film Club A place where movie fans can come and behold some of the most awful films ever put to celluloid.

Bridge to Terabithia - pushed as a Narnia-esque fantasy adventure. Actually a poignant, devastating, coming-of-age drama that deserves to be better-loved and better-known than it is.

The poster didn't help its case, seriously misrepresenting this as an Oz-like spectacular to the detriment of the movie. I watched it with my daughter, both of us expecting some mystical world of giants and fairies. Once she got over the initial disappointment that this wasn't going to happen, she was intrigued by the movie (although it did take quite a long daddy/daughter discussion about the themes afterwards!).

It's a real shame that it was marketed so badly. I'm completely in agreement with Homer here - this was one of those rarities, an intelligent, brilliant kids movie that didn't treat them as idiots or shy away from real issues. Had it got the audience it deserved, I'd go as far as to say that this could have been this generations Princess Bride

A better comparison is this generation's My Girl...

But yes, I really think the film deserves to be an out-right classic for the ages.

Sharky, how old was your daughter when she watched it?

Yeah, have to agree here. Bridge to Terabithia is a fantastic film and really deserved to find an audience. Like sharky, I had to have a bit of a discussion with my daughter regarding the themes in the film afterwards but she really enjoyed it nonetheless.

Drive's marketing was pretty terrible.

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Acting...Naturaaal

Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!

But yes, I really think the film deserves to be an out-right classic for the ages.

Sharky, how old was your daughter when she watched it?

She'd just turned 8 at the time, close enough to the age of the protagonists for her to associate with them. I don't think she'd really have been ready for its themes any younger than this. As it was, she was quite affected (though not upset as such) by the "grown-up" themes in it, thus the daddy/daughter discussion after the movie

_____________________________

WWLD?

Every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless

I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.

Yup, the old switcheroo. The most annoying thing about trailers is the whole "move the dialogue or scenes around to make your own story" that the trailer makers play.

The oft-quoted "Darth Vadar........dramatic pause.......Rise!!!" got my hairs standing on end, and I am NO Star Wars fan. It wasn't in the film like that at all!! In the Hedge Ledger Batman, he says "Simple... kill the Batman" in a menacing voice that pretty cool. But that was completely different too. In fact I think they used a different take. I can't fully remember. Someone will enlighten me. The bit in which Jimmy B jumps down into the train in Skyfall was different too. My friends and I agreed it was not nearly as dramatic when edited slightly differently.

I could go on. None of this really matters, but when you have the idea of what's coming up, and then it doesn't, it takes you out of the film for a bit. Shame.

Don't get me started on the way in which they make the film subject look like something else. Magic Mike and Silver Nonsense Playlist are perfect examples.

In fairness to them, given the entire film to play with, the people that make the trailers are to be praised in their skill of making it look ten times as good. I suppose my point is : if the trailer editor can spot these potential changes time and time again, why don't the director / editor of the finished product put them in that way in the first place?

That's more the annoying habit they seem to have where a different take is used in the release. I don't mind bait and switch tactics completely, sometimes it works to their advantage and the film has a better tone in the end or comes out more interesting. I was trying to think of a good example, but can only remember the kind that looked good but turned out shit, and it's not quite the same as getting a movie you weren't expecting. Like those people (well I say people...) that complained Drive looked like a boy racer Fast/Furious movie.

I know "a friend of mine" was extremely disappointed when he went to see the first Sherlock Holmes and Rachel McAdams did not appear in a sexy corset as advertised. He enjoyed the film but was disappointed.

I don't mind bait and switch tactics completely, sometimes it works to their advantage and the film has a better tone in the end or comes out more interesting. I was trying to think of a good example, but can only remember the kind that looked good but turned out shit, and it's not quite the same as getting a movie you weren't expecting.

The Grey was a good example of the former - it was marketed like an against-all-odds survivalist action movie "from the director of The A-Team!" (the trailer concentrated on the crash, the wolf attacks, the jury-rigged zip line scene and even the scene of the big man taping broken bottles to his knuckles in preparation for a fight with a huge and very mean wolf). Instead we got a thoughtful, introspective and surprisingly moving portrait of a man coming to terms with mortality, life and loss.

_____________________________

WWLD?

Every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless

I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.

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Joined: 6/10/2005 From: A breaking rope bridge in the middle of the jungle

I've not seen the film so I can't really comment about it, but I find myself very confused with the way Argo has been marketed, in that the trailer appears to be for two different films that happen to share the same actors. First half of the trailer everything's all broody music, All the President's Men style blokes talking seriously etc etc, and then all of a sudden the music changes and it's like the next Savage Steve Holland film.

I don't mind bait and switch tactics completely, sometimes it works to their advantage and the film has a better tone in the end or comes out more interesting. I was trying to think of a good example, but can only remember the kind that looked good but turned out shit, and it's not quite the same as getting a movie you weren't expecting.

The Grey was a good example of the former - it was marketed like an against-all-odds survivalist action movie "from the director of The A-Team!" (the trailer concentrated on the crash, the wolf attacks, the jury-rigged zip line scene and even the scene of the big man taping broken bottles to his knuckles in preparation for a fight with a huge and very mean wolf). Instead we got a thoughtful, introspective and surprisingly moving portrait of a man coming to terms with mortality, life and loss.

See I basically just wanted to see Liam Neeson punch a wolf in the face with a broken bottle knuckleduster. Soooooo dissapointed.

I've not seen the film so I can't really comment about it, but I find myself very confused with the way Argo has been marketed, in that the trailer appears to be for two different films that happen to share the same actors. First half of the trailer everything's all broody music, All the President's Men style blokes talking seriously etc etc, and then all of a sudden the music changes and it's like the next Savage Steve Holland film.

Almost like they're trying to cover their backs either way.

It's a pretty decent representation of the film I reckon. Obviously it's less jarring over two hours but I'd say the trailer pretty much nails the mood.

Simmilar to that, I showed "let me in" to my missus and her daughter the other night (they'd already seen let the right one in and loved it) and they commented how the trailer makes it look like a scare a minute rollercoaster horror movie when it's much more lyrical and slow burn than that.